“Frankly, I believe that the pope’s remarks will only accelerate the process for Hagia Sophia to be re-opened for [Muslim] worship,” Professor Mefail Hızlı, the mufti of Ankara, said in a written statement released late April 15.
According to Hızlı, the pope’s statement “has reflected a modern color of the crusader wars launched in these lands for centuries.” These lands have long been the “standard bearer” of the Muslim world, meaning many enemies, both from inside and outside of the country, have been launching attacks with different methods.
“The statement that the Catholic world’s spiritual leader pope delivered three days ago, saying Armenians had been subjected to a genocide, is extremely spectacular,” Hızlı said, noting that the pope’s statement was intruding on the realm of historians and was hastily made.
Hızlı did not touch on the precise relationship between Francis, the leader of the world’s Catholics, and the Haghia Sophia, which served as a Greek Orthodox basilica until the Turkish conquest in 1453........hurriyetdailynews.com
16/5/15
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Turkey’s hidden Armenians search for stolen identity ...
ReplyDeleteIn 1915, during World War I, the Ottoman Empire ordered the extermination of the Armenian people. One and a half million were killed in the first genocide of the 20th century. But up to 200,000 women and children survived, converting to Islam and being integrated into the Kurdish and Turkish communities. Today, their descendants are discovering their Armenian roots that had lain hidden for generations. Our reporters followed them on their difficult search for identity.
We meet Armenak and his friends, who thought they were Turkish or even Kurdish until a few years ago. After discovering their Armenian roots, they decided to travel through their ancestral lands in eastern Turkey.
We also meet Armen, who discovered his origins while rummaging through some old family photos. Raised as a Muslim, he now plans to convert to Christianity. It’s a decision that his wife, a devout Muslim, has difficulty accepting.
Their stories are typical of descendants of Armenians who survived the genocide. Many of those who managed to escape forcibly erased all traces of their identity, adopting Turkish or Kurdish names. A century later, their descendants have opened a Pandora’s box that was locked by previous generations..........france24.com